Frequently Asked Questions

This part of the MacMAME Users Guide answers some basic questions about what MacMAME is and how it works.

Contents

1. About MacMAME
2. Common Questions
3. Performance

About MacMAME

What is MacMAME?

MacMAME is computer software which makes your Mac behave exactly like an arcade video game. When you use MacMAME to play Pac-Man, for example, your Mac will behave just like a real Pac-Man arcade game, all the way down to asking you to insert a coin (which you do by pressing '5' on your keyboard). It's not just a Mac version of Pac-Man; it is identical to the original arcade game, with all of the original's levels, options, sounds, and glitches intact. This is called 'emulation,' and MacMAME currently emulates over three thousand arcade games. A few of these aren't yet emulated perfectly, and may have sound or gameplay glitches, but MacMAME is continually being updated and improved.

MacMAME requires "rom files" which contain the programs for the games it will emulate. MacMAME will not be able to play any games without rom files. For information about rom files, see the About Roms section of the Users Guide.

Where can I discuss MacMAME, report problems, ask questions, or find more details about it?

The best place for information and discussion is the MacMAME bulletin board at 'http://www.bannister.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=forum;f=26'.

To read about known bugs in MacMAME, or to report a bug you've found, use the MacMAME Wiki at "http://localarcade.com/wiki/". The MAME Testers site at "http://www.mametesters.com/" tracks development of the original MAME engine itself, and may be more relevant to problems with specific games.

There is also an IRC channel at '#mamegames'. You may also want to try the Usenet newsgroups 'comp.emulators.misc' or 'alt.emulators.classic-arcade'. A general discussion area for all versions of MAME on all computer systems is at 'http://www.mame.net/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/wwwthreads.pl'.

Additionally, the FAQ for the Windows version of MAME is available at 'http://www.mame.net/mamefaq.html', and it provides some details which are beyond the scope of the MacMAME FAQ.

Common Questions

What operating system and how much memory do I need for MacMAME?

The latest version of MacMAME requires Mac OS X (10.1 and up). It will not work with Mac OS 9.2.2 or earlier. MacMAME will run on a computer with 128MB RAM (which is the minimum requirement for Mac OS X), but additional memory will improve the performance of Mac OS X as well as MacMAME, especially for more recent games.

If your computer is running Mac OS 9, then use MacMAME 0.66.2 (or earlier; some people have found versions 0.60a or 0.58 to be more stable). If your computer is running Mac OS 8.6, then use MacMAME 0.36a. If you have a 68k Mac (such as a Mac II or a Quadra), then use MacMAME 0.28. These versions can be downloaded from 'http://www.macmame.org/files/'.

What variants of MacMAME are available?

• GeoMAME handles only Neo Geo games. It offers save states, autofire, over/underclocking, programmable combos, and support for all existing MGD2 and MVS dumps, as well as hacks and prototype ROMs. You can download it from "http://mac.emuhq.com/geomame/".
• CPSMAME handles only Capcom's CPS1 and CPS2 games. It offers autofire and over/underclocking. You can download it from "http://software.emuscene.com/cpsmame/".
• MacPacMAME emulates more than one hundred variants and spinoffs of Pac-Man. You can download it from "http://mac.emuhq.com/macpacmame/".

How does MacMAME run so many different games?

The MacMAME development team puts considerable research into learning how many different arcade games work, so that they can write driver software to accurately emulate the games.

A "driver" is part of the MacMAME software which allows it to run a particular video game. Without a driver for Pac-Man, for example, MacMAME would have no idea what to do with the Pac-Man game program. These drivers are built into the MacMAME software; you don't need to download the drivers separately.

Most drivers in MacMAME are complete; they run their games flawlessly, exactly like an arcade machine. Some drivers in MacMAME are incomplete: they might run their games with some graphics or control glitches, or they might not run their games at all yet. Most of the MacMAME development effort goes into creating and improving drivers so that MacMAME can run a larger number of game programs correctly.

MacMAME doesn't play my favorite game yet!

MacMAME is continually being updated and improved. If you find that a particular game isn't yet handled by MacMAME, the reason is usually one of these:

• The arcade game might be too recent. The people responsible for the development of MacMAME generally avoid adding support for a game that's newer than a year or two old, as a matter of principle. This makes MacMAME less of an annoyance to arcade game companies, who want new arcade games to earn profits in arcades.
• The arcade game might be difficult to emulate. Some games use encryption or custom hardware which is very hard to reverse-engineer.
• It might just be that no developer has had time yet to work on adding support for the game. If you have the time and skills, help out!

When will the next version of MacMAME be available?

There is no schedule or deadline for when new versions of MacMAME are released. New versions generally appear every few months.

Keep in mind that the latest version of MacMAME can be used to play thousands of arcade games, identically to the real arcade machines, for free. It's the result of a labor of love by people who want to make sure that the old games aren't lost forever. New versions of MacMAME typically are released to fine-tune the emulation of certain games or to add support for a few games which most people haven't ever heard of. Because this work is being done for free in the spare time of people who have busy lives, you won't encourage them by complaining that a new version is 'behind schedule.' If being able to play yet another variation of Mahjongg is so important to you, pitch in and help the development effort!

MacMAME doesn't play Pong!

Believe it or not, some arcade games such as Pong and Monaco GP didn't have a central microprocessor in them; they were driven entirely by analog circuits. Therefore, reproducing these games on a modern computer would require a simulator rather than an emulator, and this is not what MacMAME was created to be.

Performance

How do I make games look and sound better?

First, try OpenGL rendering mode. At the bottom of the MacMAME window, click the 'Options...' button, then select 'OpenGL' from the Renderer pulldown menu. Now when you play a game in full-screen mode, its image will be stretched as large as it can be on your display.

There are some options you can set by clicking the 'Configure...' button after you select OpenGL from the Renderer menu. These can make the MacMAME video more closely resemble the display on an old arcade game's low-quality display.

• Smoothing: This makes games look smoother and less blocky. It does this by blurring the image slightly, but it will still be much sharper than most arcade games. This is a popular option to enable.
• Sync to VBL: This synchronizes the game's display with your monitor's refresh rate. The effect is to reduce "tearing" and to make the game screen update before the display starts drawing it, resulting in a more stable-looking image. Turning this on is a good idea.
• Overlay: Pattern image files can be put into the "OpenGL Overlays" folder (in the MacMAME folder, in your Documents folder) to simulate a less-than-perfect arcade display, such as one with heavy scanlines, imperfect tint, or visible artifacts in the image.
• Persistence: Moving this slider to the right increases the "ghosting" of a display, simulating the arcade screen's phosphors glowing slightly longer. The effect is that moving video will look very blurry. Move the slider all the way to the left to disable this effect.

Older Macintosh computers (roughly, 500MHz or slower) may be very slow with OpenGL. If OpenGL rendering is too slow for you, just go back to Software rendering.

Here are some other options to set; they will work under OpenGL and Software rendering mode. All these are located under the Video tab.

• Set the pulldown menu to 'Triple Size' or 'Triple Size with Scanlines'; this will make the game image as large as it can, depending on your display's resolution. (This setting has no effect in OpenGL full-screen mode.)
• Check the 'Full Screen' checkbox, so that the game plays full-screen instead of in a window.
• If you're playing a vector (line-drawn) game such as Asteroids or Tempest, turn on 'Anti-alias' and 'Translucent Vectors.' Also drag the Flicker and Beam Width sliders to the right (experiment to find settings you like); this will make vector-based games look more realistic.
• Check 'Use all extra artwork,' and download the artwork files for your games from 'http://www.mame.net/downart.html'. Backdrops, overlays, and bezel art will slow down MacMAME, but will make it look more like the real arcade experience.

Also, on the Audio tab in the MacMAME window, make sure 'Enable Sound' is turned on and that the sample rate is set to 44100 Hz.

How do I make games run faster?

Some newer arcade games supported by MacMAME will not run at full speed on any computer in existence today. There are three things to remember about this: MacMAME focuses on accurate emulation rather than playing speed, it continues to be optimized, and faster computers are always right around the corner. In the meantime, if you believe your Mac should be capable of handling the game you're trying to play, here are a few suggestions which might help it run faster.

• On the Misc tab of the main MacMAME window, make sure that 'Enable Automatic Frameskipping' is checked.
• Also on the Misc tab, make sure 'Generate debug log' is not checked.

If games are still running slowly, try changing these settings:

• If you're playing a vector game, turn off 'Anti-alias' and 'Translucent Vectors' under Vector Options on the Video tab. Also, go into the Displays section of your computer's System Preferences and lower your display resolution. (MacMAME will run vector games at the current resolution, which can be very processor-intensive at high resolutions.)
• If you're using Software rendering, then try using OpenGL rendering instead, or vice-versa.
• On the Video tab, make sure that 'Use all extra artwork' and the three checkboxes below it are all unchecked.
• Make the game window smaller. Click the Video tab and select 'Actual Size' from the first pulldown menu.
• On very slow systems, go to the Audio tab and set the 'Sample Rate' to '11025 Hz' and uncheck 'Emulate FM Sound,' or even try unchecking 'Enable Sound.'

This document was last updated on May 3, 2005.